The Keys to the Ladies' Room: A New Business Model for Financial Advisors

By Adri Miller-Heckman

The Keys to your future success!


Women are a goldmine of opportunity for any financial advisor looking to accelerate business growth.
The key is knowing what women want and how to apply that knowledge to attract more female clients
and generate more referrals.

This book is your personal roadmap to making that shift.

With the Keys to the Ladies Room you will discover how easy it can be to:

Understand the difference in how men and women relate to money and convert that
knowledge to create a more purpose driven business model.

Develop your personal story which inspires more trust and confidence with both prospects
and clients faster

Share what you do in a way that leaves the listener sitting up and craving for more.

Incorporate a more purpose driven process that engages both clients and prospects
simultaneously, uncovering more assets and opportunities.

Articulate your true value as a financial advisor (and its not what you think!)that wins you the
big business

With time-tested scripts and practical, step-by-step guidance from a former Smith Barney National
Training Officer, this book promises to transform your marketing and accelerate business growth by
attracting more women clients and creating more loyal raving fans.




This book is destined to start a new revolution in the financial services industry. Adri has artfully
combined the strengths of women with the experience and wisdom of men to create a new, refreshing
business model for financial advisors. She speaks directly to what advisors need and what clients want.
This is a must-read for any financial professional looking to create a deeply meaningful and highly
profitable advisory practice.

Barbara Stanny, Bestselling author of Prince Charming Isnt Coming, Overcoming Underearning, and
Secrets of Six-Figure Women

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477298312

Adri Miller-Heckman

Adri Miller-Heckman is a consultant and coach to financial advisors, specializing in helping advisors market to and attract the female client. Adri provides one-on-one coaching, group teleconference training programs, developmental workshops and motivational presentations throughout the United States. She is a Senior Executive Financial Services Expert with extensive nationwide experience in business development training, as well as an approved Financial Advisor Coach at Smith Barney, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Bank of America. Like any good coach to financial advisors, Adri’s coaching career was preceded by an extensive and successful career in the field. As a financial advisor, she learned first-hand what it takes to build a thriving and sustainable practice that focuses on the female client. Her success as an advisor earned her the position as a national trainer for Smith Barney, and then Director of National Sales for Women and Co., a division of Citigroup – all while raising three children on her own. Adri’s 25 years of success in the highly-competitive financial services industry was foreshadowed by an aggressive and dedicated athletic career. At 13, she was a member of the youngest volleyball team ever to compete at the national collegiate level. The University of North Carolina awarded her a full athletic scholarship, and in the years that followed, she led her teams to several championships, concluding her college career as the MVP of the Atlantic Coast Conference. After college, she continued to fuel her athletic ambitions by training in an outrigger canoe and paddling across the Molokai channel. The drive and dedication these experiences instilled in her served as a strong foundation for her demanding career in financial services. Today, Adri is proud of the impact she has made over 25 years in the industry – most notably, her impact on female advisors. Adri has led multiple workshops, addressing the issues that are unique to female advisors, and in March 2010 she launched her annual “Breaking the Mold” event, specifically designed for the female advisor. Adri’s passion for helping women has made her a leading authority on how advisors can market to and serve female clients more effectively. In addition to training thousands of financial advisors, Adri authored the book Seminars for the Financial Advisor, based on her own experience of building a successful practice targeting the female market. She also developed “The Purpose-Driven Wealth Process,” a program that systematically addresses total wealth management. Adri has been a keynote speaker for conferences run by Smith Barney, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, as well as independent firms such as Montauk Financial and WRP Investments. Her most popular presentations address business development strategies and motivational topics.

Book preview

The Keys to the Ladies’ Room

A NEW Business Model for Financial Advisors

Adri Miller-Heckman

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

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© 2013 . All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/17/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9832-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9831-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012923405

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What people are saying about Adri…

Acknowledgments

Introduction: We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

Section I:   Yin ad Yang

Chapter 1:   The New Paradigm

Chapter 2:   Making the Shift

Chapter 3:   Your WHY is the Bull’s-eye

Chapter 4:   Going Tribal!

Section II:   Building Your Purpose-Driven Practice

Chapter 5:   Tribal Hunting

Chapter 6:   Your Story

Chapter 7:   Your Compelling Introduction

Chapter 8:   A Purpose-Driven Process

Chapter 9:   Tell Me… Why YOU?

Section III:   The Launch

Chapter 10:   Spreading the Word

Chapter 11:   Drip, Drip, Drip… Getting Your Message Out

Chapter 12:   You are a Magnet

About the Author

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT ADRI…

In working with Adri, I have gained more clarity, direction and focus to my business than ever before. I continue to generate more referrals and new introductions, and by incorporating Adri’s ‘Purpose-Driven Wealth Process’ with my clients, I now systematically uncover more business opportunities and generate more production. Today I feel so much more confident that I am providing incredible value with less effort. As a result of working with Adri, I attract more prospects and close more business.

~ Katie Morris, CFP

Before my work with Adri, my creativity in my business was unbounded, but unfocused. People could hear my passion and commitment, but not how I could make a difference in their lives. I just assumed people were getting my message, but my business results showed me I was wrong. Through Adri’s program, I now know what to focus on to drive my business forward and connect with people clearly and powerfully. The greatest benefit of all of this has been seeing that I already had all the know-how and the right elements in the business. I just had to get it organized into the most powerful package and statement. That has been gold for me, and has truly jump started my business!

~ Athena Murphy

Adri really got me thinking about my purpose. Her questions on how to figure out your purpose were amazing! It helped me refocus on why I am in this business.

~ Jennifer Shields

Adri really got me thinking about my purpose. Her four questions on how to figure out your purpose were amazing! It helps me to refocus on why I am in this business.

~ Jennifer Meier

Adri’s process took my ‘30-second commercial’ to a whole different level!

~ Carla Berko

I was in a place of ambivalence, feeling stuck and unable to move ahead. Adri helped me recognize that it doesn’t pay to try to be all things to all people. This was diluting my energy and generating less than stellar results. I am truly impressed with Adri’s ability to peel away the layers and get directly to the underlying issues.

~ Liz Murphy, CFP, MBA

I’ve learned how to thrive instead of survive as a female in the financial industry. Thank you!

~ Annie Lynch

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincerest thanks go out to all the wonderful financial advisors I have had the privilege of coaching over the past 12 years. Your commitment to your own personal development, your desire to provide value, and your courage to break out of the typical industry mold is a constant source of inspiration to me.

INTRODUCTION:

We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

John was cold calling commodities, approaching complete strangers, trying to convince them to buy and sell contracts of pork bellies and soybeans. He paid little to no regard to whether these products were suitable for his prospects, even though this was a highly speculative venture. All he needed was a name, address and Social Security number.

Lynn was selling units of a limited partnership, providing eight-year tax shelters for the wealthy. Although the tax benefits were not really what they seemed, the lucrative commissions earned her a big corner office.

Across the hall, Ken was rebuilding his stock and bond practice, struggling to recover from a failed oil-and-gas firm (and the steady flow of lawsuits that followed).

Across town, Gary was advising his clients (mostly elderly retirees) to aggressively trade highly-margined CMOs (collateralized mortgage obligations). All the while, he was profiting from small swings in price – which he was manipulating with the traders.

Leo was taking kickbacks from his largest client, riding a wave of notoriety as a million-dollar producer – until the true nature of his arrangement was revealed and he lost his license.

These stories are not fictional or embellished. I pulled them from my personal history in the financial services industry. The unfortunate truth is they are typical examples of Wall Street ethics in the 1980s.

In hindsight, these activities were clearly inappropriate and unethical, but at the time only a few of them were officially considered illegal. In the 1980s, product was king, the phone was a broker’s best friend, and the title stockbroker exuded wealth and prestige. This was the era of smiling and dialing. Training was focused on sell, sell, sell, and overcoming objections was the key to success. Nobody mentioned the clients’ needs.

Commissions were high, oversight was minimal and churning was rampant. The industry cultivated a warrior mentality, highly focused on trophies and competition, and incited a culture of competition and greed. Production numbers were posted in common areas, and business was transacted and celebrated over martinis, cigars and other mood-altering party favors.

That is, until the party came to a screeching halt. Tales of unscrupulous behavior in the industry began to emerge through lawsuits, and the public backlash was fierce. This initiated sweeping changes in the industry.

Looking to leave the stained reputation of stockbrokers in the 1980s, the title of Financial Advisor fell into favor. (Of course, at the time it required neither more education nor additional certification.) Advisors shifted toward a planning-based approach to wealth management and suitability became a prominent issue. Profiling also became a central aspect of the work, and advisors began spending more time getting to know their clients before recommending a product or solution.

Those down-and-dirty, over the phone transactions now required more customer information, compliance approval, and far more comprehensive due diligence. While the desire to sell product continued to dominate the business, a more thorough assessment and a computer-generated financial plan now authenticated the recommendation. The industry began to promote a three-appointment process, and managed accounts and wrap fees helped slow down the transactional process, thereby reducing conflicts of interest.

While the industry was headed in the right direction, and the new relationship-driven process seemed a more ethical approach to financial services, old habits can be hard to break. Churning continued to threaten industry ethics and the Good Ol’ Boy network was alive and well.

Management continued to encourage a client-centric process, enforcing the practice through day-to-day scrutiny. As the wrap fee concept began to catch on, advisors felt hard-pressed to justify their fees year after year. So, what did industry leaders do? They encouraged advisors to provide a quarterly review to their clients – despite the fact this practice ran counter to the fundamental principles of long-term investing, which downplay the importance of short-term swings in investment value. How else could advisors justify their fees and validate their value?

Investment performance continued to be the yardstick of success until the late 1990s when, with Sandy Weil leading the charge, wire houses and banks began to merge. This provided advisors with a whole new bag of tricks to justify their title and fees. Advisors gained access to a trove of products and services, and they began to encourage their clients to consolidate their assets under one firm and one advisor. With this, the relationship approach to financial services was really beginning to take root.

Our current environment

Today’s advisor is well aware of and committed to building an ethical, client-centric practice. Most have embraced the fee-based business model, shying away from proprietary investments to avoid conflicts of interest. Service has become the primary objective, and even portfolio management has transitioned from an ad-hoc approach to a more established discipline and process.

Paralleling the medical industry, generalists are being pushed out and teams of specialists are becoming the preferred method for managing the total wealth of an affluent client. While production continues to be a focus, assets under management now drive the business.

Advisors are no longer pushing products; they are looking for ways to present themselves, their integrity and their ability to execute a plan that is perfectly suited to a client’s specific needs.

While the focus of the individual advisor has changed dramatically over the past few decades, a number of high-profile scandals have reignited public skepticism of our industry (thank you very much, Bernie Madoff), and this public unease continues to put financial advisors on the defense. Understandably so.

To be honest, the public is right to remain suspicious. The internal compass of the industry as a whole is still spinning wildly, and the small changes we’ve seen in products and regulations haven’t been enough change to appease the concerns of most people.

The industry is ripe for a revolution, and like any great revolution, it has to start in the roots – with the people who are working in and being served by this industry. It’s time for a new paradigm, one driven by the voice of the public, the needs of the clients, and the hand of the financial advisor.

Introducing a new paradigm

The growing presence of women in the financial arena, both as advisors and clients, is forcing a shift in the culture of the industry. It had to happen. Our industry was created by men, in service to men, with masculine protocols that feel downright foreign to most women. Yet women are a rapidly growing demographic in the financial services industry. There have never been more female advisors or female clients than there are today.

Statistics show that women are living longer, earning and inheriting sizeable sums, and becoming more engaged in the process of managing their wealth. And it has become crystal clear that women are NOT happy with the status quo in our industry. The old-school approach often undermines and underestimates the intelligence and interest of the female client.

Women are craving – no, demanding – a more balanced, holistic approach to finance. This isn’t about man vs. woman; it’s about yin and yang, like the balance you find in a great marriage where the man and woman recognize, respect and flow with the strengths of the other gender. When women combine their innate gifts with the wisdom of their male counterparts, and integrate their unique strengths as women in the process of money management, the world of finance takes on a very different feel.

Because women tend to be relationship driven, they are more inclined to invest in long-term relationships. Nurturers by nature, they think of their money differently than the numbers-oriented men. And perhaps most importantly, women are usually motivated